Amusement device



J. FOSTOS AMUSEMENT fiEvlqE Oct. 2, 1945.

Filed Feb. 6, 1943 INVENTOR (/OHN FosTos m M HIS ATTORNEY Patented 2, 1945 l 2,385,980 r AMUSEVIENT DEVICE John Fostcs', Burlingame, Calif.

- lxpplication February 6, 1943, Serial No.474,987

4 g a claims. 49. era -.144) p My invention relates to an amusement device chamber 9 formed by the conicalextension of the or game; and one of the objects of the invention housing}, and into the swirl chamber 10, in which is the provision of an apparatus in which light aquantity of light balls ll lie. balls having arbitrarily assigned values may-be The swirlchamber is enclosedbya cylindrical tossed in a current of air, and perhaps one of wall I2 of glass or transparentplastic which seats them caught in a trap in which it is removed from on a flanged ring I35 resting on the inwardly exthe swirl or other balls Time limits are set for tending flanged upperrim ll of the housing; It 'the play and effect is given to the valuesof the is held securely in place by tierods l5 piercing trapped balls by means, of totals scored by each H the two flanges and'connecting them to aflanged player, or by prizes assigned to balls of given ii) crown ring 16, disposed onthe top of the glass color, or otherm'se to lend zest and interest to the wall. The swirl chamber is provided with a screen contest which blends skill in handling the air floor or bottom wall gl'l, extending betweenth'e with the laws of chance. flange l4, and held bythe'nuts on the'lower ends Means areprovided for removing a trapped ball u" of the tie rods. A ,screen top wall or ceiling lt from the trap, a d for introducin additional it extends across the chamber a short distance bee balls to the swirl chamber. Means are also prolow the crown ring, and issupport'ed therefrom by videdfor producing anascending current of air brackets 21 conveniently caught under the nuts below the ballsso as to toss them about; and atthe upper endsof the tierods. means accessible to theplayer are also provided Above the glass wall of the swirl fhamber is disfor the control of the air current. "Tim-e con- 2 posed. the collectionchamber intowhich ballsfare trolled means initiated by a starting button for thrown by the air blast; It is preferred to have the motor-driven fan fixes the period during the balls in this chamber clearly visible and for which a score in one period of play may be made, that reason, the walls are made of screen or and conditions the machine for another period on; transparent plastic for glass; Resting on the cycle. crown ring and convenientlysecured thereto by specifically above mentioned, and these will be plate '2 flan ed ont e per hery for a en to set forthin the 'followingdetailed description 01 the screen sidewall 23, which. terminates at its ,my invention. It is tobe understood that I .donot upp edge in the stiffeningg 2 t0 C I hG limit myself, to the showing made by this desori screen cover 6 is l n ed. Pre e a y a' h sh tion and the illustrative drawing, as I may adopt 21 prov ded or a padlock ev un variant forms of my invention within thescope tholf izcd openi of the C i n am er. of the appended claims. Means are provided forreadily introducing balls In the drawing, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly into t Swirl .C mb L s e d, i Su t y in vertical axial section, o1? an apparatus embodyp ac d pe es i cdver screen 26 arid h ing my invention. Portions of the figure are Swirl Chamber .13. Which-15218013116100? omitted to reduce its length. Figure'2 is a fragtomrwall T1001 0f the ll t n h m tfiare a 'mentary view in vertical section through the air plurality of thin rods 28fheld by spaced rings 2 9, control bafile and its control knob. Figure 3 is a and toget min a Chute from 13116 Olitsjid 1' diagram of the electrical connections. 40 the of the Swirl hamber- 3 p o O l The present embodiment of my invention comthe bottom ring 29 of the chute is a light, curved prises a preferably cylindrical hollow housing or finger top 3 T is stop offers no resistance to body 2 mounted on a supporting base including a ball dropping through the chute, but in the uplegs 3. Mounted in the center of the body is a ward blast of air during operation f the hi vertical shaft motor 4 for driving the fan blades 4 the stop swings Ove against the bottom ring to 5; and a lining 6 of sound proofing material is block upward entry into the lower end of the preferably secured to the inside of the housing to chute. deaden vibration and lessen noise which the fan Trap mea s e provided for catching and and motor might otherwise cause. To absorb viholding a single ball at a time, and for removing bration the motor is set on a rubber block I; and a 50 the ball from the trap to .a storage space at the hand hole normally closed by a flush cover plate volition of the player, and also for dropping the 8 provides access to the interior of the housing for ball back into the swirl chamber. Centrally arservicing the motor and operating parts adjacent ranged in the collection chamber, and in an aperthereto. The rotating fan supplies the upward ture in the screen floor thereof, is a trap formed current of air which passes through the control of thin rods 32, secured by spaced rings 33. The

My invention has other objects besides those the nuts on the top of the tiefl'ods is the annular open bottom of the trap permits a blast-borne ball to enter, pushing past the latch 34 pivotally mounted on the pivoted lever 36, which normally lies in such position as to hold the latch across the opening into the trap. A stop lever 31 loosely pivoted to the side of the trap a short distance above the latch and normally resting on one of V prize; or if it is without value, it is automatically released at the end of the cycle of play by withdrawal of the retaining latch. This is .accom' plished by a solenoid 38, the corewofawhich is control chamber just above the fan blades. Preferably the baffle plate is elliptical in shape, being somewhat longer along the line of its pivoted shaft than it is wide, but it may be circular. It

5. should be evenly balanced and the shaft tight enough in the hearings to retain whatever position it is turned to, while at the same time being easily turned by a control knob 54 on the outside of the housing. By turning the knob 54, the

10 plate ,is tipped t spillthe, air ,to one side or the :ojtl ier in varyingi degre; soithatj currents of different directions and velocities enter the swirl ..chamber, and the flow of the balls toward and 'around the trap opening may be influenced to 15ith'e"end.that the chance of trapping a desired V i H ball is rneasurably enhanced.

connected by link 39 with the lever '36. 'Atthe close of the play period, means operatei-bythe: timing mechanism momentarily closes the sole- Each period of play begins when the electric 5; -rnotoris started by pushing in the button 56; and continues for a predetermined period until the noid circuit to retract the latch and release'any 2 0 current to the motor is interrupted by the operball in the trap. A spring .4I then efiects the recovery movement of the parts. 'It will be con;- venient to make the tie rods I5'o f pipe, -.and run the wires to the solenoid through one of them as shown in the drawing. V

Means are also provided to be operated byfthe player for lifting the ball the trap-out of .it and into a storage space. adjacent the wall of the collection chamber, from which it may be reached throughthe top'when'thecover' is raised. .Pivloted to lugs 42, fixed on 'the annular plate 22, is .a lever-4,3; extending downwardly-at-an angle into the bottom portion of the tree; The] opposite end is provided with a chain "or link 44 hanging down through the overhangingrim of the plateand terminating in a pull ring 45, by which the player'may work the lever. ,'The' positions and proportions of the several parts are such'th'at whenthelever is down in.it s normal position,

ation of Mime Co r ed e h m 5 the tails of which need not be described since various structuresof this character are well known and form no part oi my .present invention. Re-

25 ferring .to Figure 31 itis suflicient to saythat the pressing. of thebutton55 closes .a switch 58 in the circuit to and starts the operation 'of the timing mechanism 5'! which thereupon closes the circuit. 59 .tothemotor for a predetermined inap terval'fandthen opens it} Theswitch 58 is held closed'by a spring latch'fil connected to be rele'asejd by a solenoid Bl,controlled bycircuit 63. Afterthe speed of the fan has died down so that .the balls in the swirl chamber are .atrest, the

35 circuit 54 to the solenoid 38 is closed and im-' mediately opened. to release 1 any ball remaining in metre Finally, thetimingmechanism circuit is.Iagainconditionedfor operation by energ'iz' ing" th e:circuitv 63 controllingthe latch 6! to the opening into the trap isunobstructed but dfl'open the m'ain sWitch58 andrelease the'starting when the pull ring 46 is pulled down, the inner runway, the ball rollsdowni'nto a storage space "ehamber adapted formed between theouter wallwand alow fence the rimof the collection chamber. 1V

'The game is played with'a quantity of balls being tossed about me. blast fdfairpassin up through the control, swirl and collection chambers and out through the screen cover, Means are arranged in the control chamber'bywhich the player may exercise some degree'of control overjthe character'anddirectionof the air cur- ,49,and extending for a short distance, around horizontally in bearings 53 set in thewall'of'the .button, so that when the buttonis again pressed in, anew cycle of operationswill begin. .iIclaimi I I 1. An amusement device comprising a swirl to hold a quantity of balls, means for causing a blast of air: through the "chamber'to to'ss'the balls'about, and ap'ivotally mounted baflle plate'fo'r modifying the'air currents entering the swirl chamber. v

2,'An amusement device comprisin a swirl chamber"'ada'pted to hold a quantity of balls, means for causing a jbla'st j of air through the chamber to 'toss' the balls about, a pivotally mounted .bafile plate for modifying the air our- 7 rents 'entering ithe swirl j chamber, a trap into rentaso'that practised handling may contribute JOHN: i os'ro's. 

